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The rising cost of healthcare is one of the most significant burdens on countries, especially low- and middle-income countries. Research has shown that self-care can be critical in reducing unnecessary expenses for healthcare systems. Global self-care activities generate substantial monetary and healthcare workforce savings, totalling at least approximately $119 billion per year, according to a policy brief published by the United for Self-Care Coalition.

“Increased access to self-care products and services could further alleviate the burden on health systems by freeing up resources and time for healthcare providers to attend to more serious conditions,” explained Judy Stenmark, Director General at the Global Self-Care Federation (GSCF). “Globally, a total of 10.9 billion individual hours and 1.8 billion physician hours are saved every year through self-care practices.”

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In a number of global negotiations on the transfer of technology and knowledge, there are industry-led lobbying efforts to limit such transfers to measures that are on mutually agreed Page 2 of 27 terms (MAT), or voluntary and on mutually agreed terms (VMAT). Sometimes it is asserted that as a practical matter, the transfer of manufacturing know-how can only be provided through voluntary measures, and assertions are sometimes made that there is no legal basis for transfers of know-how, access to materials such as product samples and cell lines, or access to and the use of regulatory filings and data.

This note looks at one type of legal mechanism, competition law, and provides some examples of cases where the United States competition authorities have mandated the transfer of manufacturing know-how and access to materials and regulatory filings.

Read note in full

See also subsequent post by Arianna Schouten, "What measures do US competition authorities refer to in technology transfer mandates"

AMR is one of the biggest challenges to keeping infectious diseases under control.

In 2019, drug-resistant infections caused over 1.27 million deaths. Without action, these numbers are expected to increase significantly over the next couple of decades, with low- and middle-income countries particularly affected.

Despite notable progress in some areas over the last 15 years, overall, the global response remains too weak and fragmented to match the escalating challenge. Action on AMR happens locally – in health systems and in communities – but we need urgent action from global leaders to help secure faster progress and greater global impact.

Several high-level political events, including the World Health Assembly, UN General Assembly and Fourth Ministerial Conference on AMR, make 2024 a unique year to renew political attention and establish strong governance mechanisms for addressing AMR.

This policy brief sets out Wellcome’s recommendations for a more effective global response.

Access to effective antibiotics is essential to every health system in the world, however, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens this backbone of modern medicine and is already leading to deaths and disease which would have once been prevented. This Series highlights that, although AMR can affect anyone throughout the life course, the very young, very old and severely ill are the ones suffering the most. Through novel modelling data, this Series shows how stopping infections through improved vaccination and water and sanitation can not only prevent a significant proportion of deaths due to AMR in low- and middle-income countries, but also reduce the use of antibiotics to preserve its effectiveness. The Series also addresses how a rethink of drug development is needed to support investment in antibiotic, diagnostics, and vaccine development according to the burden of infection and resistance. Lower drug development costs will also make antibiotics more affordable and accessible. Finally, the authors argue for the need of targets to trigger political commitment and accelerate progress in addressing AMR.

Sixteen leading scientists and manufacturers involved in vaccine development and production worldwide issue an urgent call for a pandemic accord that can be a ‘win-win for all.’ The full list of authors is available below.

Health misinformation was not invented during COVID-19 but was certainly brought to a higher, more malevolent  and destructive pitch during the pandemic.  That hostile crusade has since been (mis)directed at two landmark agreements, the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Agreement (Pandemic Agreement), and amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), that are currently being negotiated by WHO’s 194 member states for approval at the World Health Assembly.  

The overarching goal of ensuring that the world will deal more equitably with the next pandemic appears to be elusive as we near the deadline of May 2024 for the close of the negotiations.

Several social media and news outlets have claimed that the WHO is negotiating two instruments that will afford the agency far-reaching powers in case of a future pandemic. 

CAPE TOWN – Moderna tried to extract a huge price for its COVID-19 vaccine from the South African government at the height of the pandemic, according to the local NGO, Health Justice Initiative (HJI), in revelations made public this week.

The US-based pharma company wanted to charge $42 per vaccine in mid-2021 when vaccines were scarce, reducing this to $32.30 in the third quarter and $28.50 by the fourth quarter.

In comparison, Pfizer offered its vaccines for $10 per dose over the same period – which, although less than a quarter of Moderna’s ask, was still higher than the price paid by the European Union.

Moderna also expected South Africa to pay to transport the vaccine from its European offices, and demanded broad indemnification clauses and a 15-year confidentiality agreement, according to HJI.

Ultimately, South Africa did not procure vaccines from Moderna.

The local manufacture of advanced pharmaceutical products has been a long-standing objective of health and industry policy in many developing countries, including in Latin America. This strategy has been applied to fight epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we still know little about the politics and governance that enable such arrangements, especially when there is no consent from the originator company. This study focuses on the case of Brazil, a country that is well-known for its health-industry policy, which includes the local production of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), a new treatment for hepatitis C. We seek to explain the factors that have contributed to Brazil’s successful production of generic versions of DAAs, and, later, to the decision by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to procure drugs from multinational pharmaceutical companies rather than from local laboratories.

Right-wing African Members of Parliament (MPs), including some of the continent’s most vociferous anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ lawmakers, united with anti-vaxx conspiracy theorists for the first time at a conference in early May.

Aside from the expected rhetoric against abortion and LGBTQ people, the African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty gave a platform to a speaker who claimed that a range of vaccines were unnecessary or designed to reduce African fertility – including the COVID-19, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), malaria and even tetanus vaccines.

Others agitated against the World Health Organization’s (WHO) pandemic agreement currently being negotiated, describing it as a “power grab” aimed at imposing abortion, same-sex marriage and lockdowns on the world.

The anti-vaxx charge was led by Kenyan doctor Wahome Ngare and South African Shabnam Mohamed, who describes herself as a lawyer and journalist.

Ngare is chairperson of the African Sovereignty Coalition and a director of the rightwing Kenya Christian Professionals Forum (KCPF).

Geneva, 21 May 2024:- Ahead of next week’s World Health Assembly (WHA 77, May 27-June 1), the Global Climate and Health Alliance is calling on World Health Organization (WHO) member states to adopt a proposed resolution on Climate Change and Health. The draft resolution clearly states that climate change is a major threat to global public health, and sets out a framework to promote health and build climate-resilient and sustainable health systems [1]. The key global health meeting takes place just ahead of next month’s UN Climate negotiations in Bonn (SB 60).

Date: Tue 21 May 2024
Source: Al-Omana [in Arabic, summ. & trans. Mod.MM, edited]
https://al-omana.net/news222272.html


The director of the Epidemiological Surveillance Department, Ministry of Health, Aden governorate, has revealed that they have registered 80 cases of cholera during 24 hours, which is the maximum number of cases within one day since this new outbreak of cholera started. He also mentioned that the number of registered cholera cases in the governorate has reached 1300 cases, with 9 deaths since the beginning of this year (2024), noting that the current available hospital capacities for the admitted cholera patients have been exceeded and are insufficient to meet the influx of cases.

Yemen has been hard hit by a prolonged and protracted outbreak of cholera over the past years. The combined efforts of health authorities and international partners have brought the disease to a halt for a while, but it seems to have reemerged again, especially in the southern governorates as mentioned above. - Mod.MM